Baku/20.04.13/Turan: In Gobustan prison on April 18,
there began a mass hunger strike of persons serving life sentences. They
require a review of their cases and the abolition of the penalty of life
imprisonment.
In their address to the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan the
protesters claim that at one time they had been sentenced to death.
When on February 10, 1998 the death penalty was
abolished by Parliament, their sentence was replaced by the same law to life
imprisonment.
The authors of the address believe that Parliament
exceeded the powers by granting itself the right of the judiciary. The prisoners
believe that as an alternative to the death penalty under the current Penal
Code then there was imprisonment for 15 years, so their case should have been
considered by the courts in person and punished with this measure. Or, they
should have been pardoned by the President, which would replace the death
penalty to imprisonment from 15 to 20 years.
The authors of the address state that they are
beginning an indefinite hunger strike until the Ombudsman gives them an answer
on measures to restore their rights.
The Prison Service confirmed the hunger strike and
informed that the action involved 19 people.
At the time of the abolition of the death penalty
on February 10, 1998, Azerbaijan had 128 prisoners sentenced to extreme
punishment. Now only 77 of those people survived.
